Distraction/Shiny Object Syndrome

Laundry, dishes, social media – OH MY. Routinely seeing your your time evaporating by tasks like these? You are so not alone.

We are constantly bombarded with opportunities to get pulled off focus–little and big things pull our attention this way and that. It’s just so easy, right? I know it is, because I’m a fellow Shiny Object Syndrome sufferer. And because I’m a sufferer, I am also fully aware that I’m responsible when it happens to me. GAH. It’s true, and I work with so many clients on coming to terms with their own tendency to give in to distraction.

That’s why I created this tool to escape the distraction black hole. For a long time, I (and my clients) hated to admit to this one, but I’m officially dispelling the shame around distractibility. A of all, shiny objects are super available, it’s just so easy to get distracted; and B of all) what good does feeling crappy about it do?

Feeling bad about a behavior only fuels hiding, and in this case, fuels the distracted behavior. Why? Because underneath distraction is fear, which most of us sufferers are not at all aware of.

An example: My friend and client had been talking for years about being burnt out in her career, and was dreaming and planning of launching a very niche coaching business. She had done her market research so knew there was a need, but every time she would try to take the steps forward she found herself going to the ends of the internet to do research on unrelated topics, losing hours by endlessly scrolling social media, jumping to respond immediately to every alert and chime of her computer and phone, and even saying “yes” to social plans that filled the hours she had set aside for working on her dream side business. The truth was she was afraid of trying and failing.

Two whole years ticked by before she was sick enough of hearing herself talk about this business without taking action, and she got in touch with me to work together to gain traction towards her goal. What was missing the most? Her ability to acknowledge the problem of Shiny Object Syndrome so she could quit shaming herself around it and set better parameters with her time and focus on what she wanted. In our work together, my client was able to figure out how she was self-sabotaging with distractions and to learn how to identify when her fear was pulling her off track, so she could know exactly when and how to kick fear to the curb and get back into alignment with her goals.

Can you relate to all the ways distractions cause us to delay going after what we want? If you’re like me and like my client, grab my shortcut to short circuit Shiny Object Syndrome.


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